Senate kills LGBT anti-discrimination hiring bill

BATON ROUGE — A New Orleans senator’s bid to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was killed Tuesday by the Louisiana Senate, with no debate from senators against the bill.

The chamber voted 25-8 against advancing the measure to the House for debate. Only one Republican senator voted in support of the bill, though Democrats voted on both sides of the measure.

Democratic Sen. Troy Carter’s proposal would have applied to public and private business, but exempt churches and religious organizations. Gov. John Bel Edwards has enacted similar anti-discrimination provision for state agencies and contractors.